The short end of the stick

College House residents are being forced to fight for parking in Lot 6. (Melissa Mastro / Staff Photographer)

Upon arriving on the College’s campus this semester, residents of the Pennington Road College Houses assumed that much like normal human beings in a democratic society, we would be able to park in our paved driveways adjacent to their houses. “Thank God I don’t have to deal with parking lots anymore,” we undoubtedly thought.

We were wrong.

Not only are the approximately 50 juniors and seniors living in these nine houses denied the right to access our unoccupied driveways for the off chance that a safety or service vehicle needs to use the space, we are now being denied their initial compensation of a reserved spot in nearby Lot 5.

Recently, students in the Pennington houses received an e-mail that the reserved spaces in Lot 5 are only meant to be used temporarily and now we must fend for themselves in Lot 6.

Wait … so we are paying a residential parking fee of $282 to park in the commuter lot as Lot 5 will now be used for Lot 6 overflow? That is correct.
It is understandable that College House residents pay the fee, just as Phelps and Hausdoerffer Hall residents do to park in the deck overlooking the football field. The difference is that the apartment residents have not been relocated and relocated again without much explanation.

Houses 1920 and 1924 on Pennington Road for example share a small, abandoned parking lot, which could easily fit several cars, is accessible from Pennington Road, and would still leave plenty of room for service and emergency vehicles if the situation arose. But the College glances over logic in this situation, covering the houses with the College House policy blanket and turning a blind eye to the frustrations of students.

It is greatly appreciated that the Student Government Association has addressed parking problems on campus, and are trying to make things easier for the students as a whole, but for now College House residents are getting the short end of the stick.

Last year, these unlucky souls were stuck listening to the construction of the new apartments and now we are suffering again, as apartment residential parking has eventually led to their designated parking spots extending farther and farther away from home.

Campus life is supposed to get easier as we progress through the years, not more difficult.